Abstract
ABSTRACT Background: Support-workers’ performance and well-being are challenged by increasingly high workloads and poor working conditions, leading to high levels of occupational stress. Aims: To explore the experiences of work stress for support-workers in New Zealand residential facilities. Design: An Interpretive Descriptive study. Methods: Data from ten (n = 10) support-workers were collected between December 2013 and June 2014, using semi-structured in-depth face-to-face interviews. Thematic analysis was used to identify key themes that captured participant reports of their experiences. Results: Work stress was conceptualized by participants as being an everyday experience of having too much to deal with and feeling under constant pressure. It appeared to be a complex and fluid experience representing an inherent, dynamic tension between reasons to be a caregiver and the burden of caregiving. Participants highlighted a range of influencing factors (including lack of recognition, person and work context, and coping strategies), which may account for that fluidity. Conclusion: The findings extend current knowledge about support-workers’ work stress by identifying the challenges relating to the lack of recognition of their role and expertize, the unintended consequences of person-centered care and the challenges faced by migrant support-workers.
Highlights
Healthcare systems around the world face a major challenge in providing care to a growing number of people living with long-term conditions (Blendon & DesRoches, 2003; Health Education England, 2015)
People were eligible to take part if they were supportworkers without health professional qualifications recognized in the country, were currently working as a support worker in an inpatient healthcare facility and if they: (1) were 20 years or older; (2) were New Zealand (NZ) residents or citizens; (3) had at least one year of documented experience in their role; and
Findings suggest that support-workers may be torn between the reasons to be a caregiver and the burden of caregiving, with this in turn contributing to experiences of work stress
Summary
Healthcare systems around the world face a major challenge in providing care to a growing number of people living with long-term conditions (Blendon & DesRoches, 2003; Health Education England, 2015). Over 60% of hands-on care in long-term care settings is provided by support-workers (Health Education England, 2015), these being caregivers without formal qualifications, or with no recognition if those qualifications were gained outside the countries in which they are working. Their main duty is to assist frail older people, disabled and/or ill people with activities of daily living (Ravenswood, Douglas, & Teo, 2014). Thematic analysis was used to identify key themes that captured participant reports of their experiences
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